Be Still.

One week from today I will be breathing in the air of Kenya, feeling the warmth of the sun on my cheeks and expecting to serve in whatever ways God allows.  I CAN’T believe it. 

The past few days have been filled with learning more about the culture of Kenya, the organizations that we will be serving and what it means to go on a mission trip. My heart has really been tugged at for this trip. It is the first time that I am a leader instead of just a participant and God is using this experience already to shape and form my thoughts more and more on what His heart is for serving others. What a blessing it has been to have 3 and ½ days off of school for Korean Lunar New Year to set apart time to pray, think and work through more of the details of this trip.  My heart and soul are full tonight after I having spent the afternoon watching videos of awesome organizations doing awesome things in Kibera, putting together material for our team to work through this week to be better prepared as we go to serve and nailing out all the details. Through it all I am learning what it means to trust God deeper, to rely on Him for strength and wisdom. To experience grace and learn more what it means to have grace.

And I have to be honest it has also been a hard 3 and ½ days off of school feeling extremely tired, about to throw-up any minute and overwhelmed by all that I have to do (putting together the trip, training on making eye glasses, having to teach this week, coaching soccer, first soccer game this Friday, taking care of members in my community, saying good-byes ect). I don’t know how I am going to make it through this week, but I do know that my problems, my to-do list is so small compare to what God can do and nothing can compare to the strength, the wisdom and the amazing way He (my Savior) helps you get through all things that are pointed towards bringing GLORY to His NAME. I just have to rest at His feet. Sit still and listen to His voice. Act when He says act. Love when He says love. Serve when He says Serve. Be still. Be still and TRUST.

This trip has already been a huge step of faith for me as I have had to believe for all the funds to come and trust for the right team to come together. My heart is filled with joy as the day gets closer, but I also know that my joy is replaced with sadness as one member of our team is not able to go on the trip. When I first posted about this trip I talked about how excited I was that God was allowing me to go on this trip in faith with a student. We both believed in faith for finances to come and THANK YOU SO MUCH to those of you who have so generously given. It is so appreciated!!! But I have sad news to tell you, this student will not be able to go on the trip because of complications of her being from another African country. She is very disappointed. She is now trusting and seeking God for what He has for her this week without walls. She has many other local options to choose from and I know she will be a blessing to whomever and wherever she serves.  I would ask that you would please pray that she has amazing week experiencing God in a whole new way.

Tomorrow my team will be talking about expectations that we have for the trip so I have been thinking and praying through the expectations I believe that God has for me on this trip:

-          First to grow in my leadership skills (Lead with grace, love, support and confidence)

-          Second to have a heart that is ready to serve whenever and however

-          Third to give up my “to-do lists” and be willing to be flexible not worried about time

-          Fourth to prepare my soul to love every person I encounter deeply and encourage them with God’s love.

-          -Fifth to learn. Have a posture of learning, listening and humbling myself. I want to go on this trip with ears and eyes first. J

Thank you so much for your support. Your prayers are/will be much appreciated through this week, next week and the months to come as we all (my team) process everything that we learn. I promise there will be many more post about this trip to come! J   

Love, Daniella



P.S. If you would like prayer points for each day while we are gone click here.

 

Something that I have to constantly remind myself these days

 

Prayer for Kenya

Two little weeks from today I will be flying with six high schoolers and three adults to serve in Nairobi, Kenya! My heart can hardly take it- I just want to be there now. I can’t wait to see all that God is going to do in and through the lives of everyone involved. We have definitely have had some struggles getting everything figured between visas, buying tickets, fund raising, yellow fever shots and remember to show up at our lunch meetings, but God who is always faithful has provided so many open doors. I am continuing to be in awe of His amazing faithfulness! I believe with all my heart that somehow all the funds will come in. I am daily surrendering the anxiety that it causing me and refocusing my mind on Jesus who knows exactly what our needs are. If you feel led to give please click here; this link will take you to another blog which has the many different options to choose from for how you would like to give.

Prayer. I am asking if you would please partner with my team in prayer. We have two students going on the trip who do not know Jesus as their personal Savior, but are seeking to figure out more about what it means to be a follower of Christ. I am praying with excitement that God will minister so deeply to their hearts on this trip. Would you pray with me that their lives would be transformed to follow Jesus?

We have also came up with prayer points for each day we are gone if you would love to join and cover our trip with prayer. It is much appreciated. The power of prayer is amazing and it is something that God is showing more and more about these days.

28 Feb – Pray for safe travel for us from Korea to Nairobi, Kenya.  Pray all of our bags arrive safely and undamaged.

1 Mar – Pray for us to get prepared and rested so we can begin strong on Monday morning.  Pray for our health that no one gets ill or sick during the week.

2 Mar- Pray for us that we would wake up ready to serve with our whole hearts however the Lord leads.

3 Mar- Pray for the missionaries in Kenya who helped organize our trip and for their ministries to continue to grow in Christ.

4 Mar- Pray for the people of Kenya that they would experience the deep love of Christ and experience how faithful He is.

5 Mar- Pray for the students who do not know Christ that He would relieve Himself to them and their lives would be transformed

6 Mar – Pray as we leave Nairobi, Kenya that our hearts would be changed for the better and that we would leave knowing that everything we did was for Christ and not for man.

2 – 6 March – Pray for us as we make and distribute reading glasses; as we work in the Elementary and Middle School to share the love of Christ for each of these children.

7 Mar – Pray for us as we spend one day in Dubai as we see and experience some of the Middle Eastern culture that we would be a light for Christ throughout the day.

8 Mar – Pray for travelling mercies as we complete our trip back to Korea and prepare to go back to school the next day

8 Mar- Pray for us as we start to share our stories and what God did in our lives with those who did not get to go on the trip. Pray that it would be encouraging and bring glory to God!

Overall, pray for our students to see how they can be the hands of feet of Christ; how he can work on their hearts too so that they too can come to know the Lord. 

“It is about the greatness of God, not the significance of man. God made man small and the universe big to say something about himself.”— John Piper

Thank you so much for partnering with us in prayer! We are so thankful and it is much appreciated!

 Love, Daniella

 

My heart is about to get stretched farther...

 

The past couple of weeks my heart has been attentively listening to a sweet, gently voice of my Savior who has been laying opportunities, truths and wisdom in it.  One was the opportunity to speak at elementary chapel and the lesson that He taught me through the message He gave me to share {there's a blog post about it here}. And the one I am most excited about right now is the deep desire He placed on my heart to go on a short-term mission trip with high schoolers from my school.
{My school is dedicating one school week for our first ever Week Without Walls. This where our students will learn what's outside the boundary of a.classroom through different service projects.} Yes, I am an elementary teacher, but the awesome thing about teaching at a small Christian school is that you are all in one building and you get lots of opportunities to interact with both “schools”. And then one benefit of having five students this year is that it is easier to find someone to watch my little ones for a week. And I know that they will be in good hands! J

So the end of February through the beginning of March you will find me in Nairobi, Kenya having the opportunity to share the love of Jesus to those God places near me.  I can’t even contend my excitement right now. I am smiling from ear to ear as I write. I am believing in God that this trip will be the beginning of something new in my life.

During this trip my team and I will provide reading glasses and share the Lord in the Ngando Slum, tutor children and help with some cleaning projects at the New Hope Initiative which runs an elementary-middle school in the Kiberia slums and we will just love on all those who we come across. It is going to be  ahard trip seeing so much injustice but this is what God has called us to do to bring His love and justice. Micah 6:8 says "And what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with you God..."  {This is the verse God lay on my heart for my 23 year of life and it is coming more into practice now through this trip! Wow, God you are so GOOD!}  I can’t wait to see God do a mighty work in the lives of the students I am taking as well as my own and those we love on.

 

This trip does come with a cost of about $2100/person and I am trusting that God will provide faithfully for each member on our team. I am praying right now that the minute we go to buy our tickets the prices will drop tremendously as this is our biggest cost right now! Boo! More specifically one member of the team has a deep desire to go, but financially it is totally out of the question. As I was talking with her I felt the Lord tell me to tell her that we need to faithfully believe that He will provide for both us to go. I promised her I would do whatever I could to help her go. I believe that if God has clearly laid it on your heart to go somewhere that He always knows how it will financially be paid for even when it seems so crazy and so out of reach. We have a God who does the impossible {my second graders always remind me of this during bible time}! This student is one of the high school girls that I have the privilege of mentoring and coaching  in soccer. She has a huge heart for others, but mostly important our God. She is from Africa and has the desire to serve in her "home".  I am so excited and feel so privilege to be able to go on this trip with her and see how God uses her to reach His people.

So, would you like to partner with this student and I as we believe and pray that God will faithfully provide?!

Here are some ways you can partner and support us:

1)     Pray for the country of Kenya and missionaries already there working to bring God’s love to this nation.  Pray that our team unites and has our eyes focus on what God’s desire is for us during this whole trip. Pray that we would look to God and courageously follow where He leads. Pray that finances would not hold us back from experiencing God in a different way and that we would take a step of faith in trusting Him.

2)     Give: If you feel God laying it on your heart to support this student (I have told you about) or myself you may give by sending a monetary donations. There are three options for you to choose from to give whatever the Lord is laying on your heart!

1.  You can write a check out to ICS made payable to ICS Kenya Trip.

2.  You can wire money to:
NAVY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION -
CHECKING ACCOUNT # 7018297239
ROUTING NUMBER #256074974
ACCOUNT NAME: INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN SCHOOL – PYEONGTAEK

3.  You can go online and make a donation.
(www.gofundme.com/ICSPKenya)
 

3)     Pray and Give! :)

Thank you for considering and prayerfully asking the Lord how you can partner with us. Your support any way you can mean so much and will be much appreciated. Please let me know if you have any questions or want to know more about this opportunity. I would be more than happy  to talk (skype), email or facebook with you!

And of course check out the blog periodically to check for updates on fundraising, the trip and reflection once we are back. I just CAN’T wait. Africa has always be in my blood (thanks, dad)! May God receive all the glory from this opportunity in our lives!

Love, Daniella

 

This is my prayer as I prepare for this opportunity...

 

 

Fight for You

 

My prayer this year as I continue to teach at ICS-P!

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of speaking at our elementary chapel. As always I get so nervous and pray over and over again that God would use me even though I feel so inadequate. And every time God uses my chapel messages to speak to my heart in amazing ways. {my prayer is that God also speaks deeply to my audience hearts as well and I know He does because He is always working in our hearts}.   

The message that God laid on my heart was speaking about Jehovah Maginennu which means The Lord my Defence and how words can hurt us so badly.  God promises to defend His people in all situations as long as we put our trust in Him even when people say hurtful things to us or awful things happen, but God DEFENDS. It may not be right away. It may not be in the way we thought or we may not know until we reach heaven, but God says “I will defend you-put your trust in me.”

This message gave me peace. It gives me something to hold onto. Something to cling to and pray each day as I teach at ICS-P. My heart gets hurt a lot by hurtful words, or actions and our greatest accuser, Satan but I am choosing to cling to my Savior who speaks so gently to my heart to just be and He will take care of it all. My Jehovah Maginennu will defend me!

Love, Daniella

 

P.S Be on the lookout for another blog post this week with some awesome goodness in it that I want you to know about!  

Embrace the New. Reflect on the Old.

As we say good-bye to 2014 and hello to 2015 my mind has been on reflection mode; thanking God for all the goodness of the year, processing through the hardships and anticipating what 2015 will look like. And yes, this is about a month late, but who’s counting?! 2014 ended with a bang and 2015 started out awesome because I surprised my family for Christmas and spent 2 lovely weeks with my sweet sweet family who embraced me with their deep love and encouragement.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2014

GREATEST LESSON LEARNED: That Jesus is all I need. This world may be grand. This world may be tough. This world may be always learning, but one thing is constant and that is my Savior!

HARDEST THING OF THE YEAR: Leaving family, but knowing God has me in my community for a reason.  

FAVORITE MEMORIES: Coaching high school girls’ soccer. Teaching 2^nd grade. Surprising my family for Christmas. Being in two of my friends’ beautiful weddings. Taylor reunion with the Ladies Lounge. Weekend at J-Fanky’s home. Running with Kristin this summer. Indy adventure with Kat. Swinging in the park with Laura and Brooklyn! Lots of skype dates.  High school lock-in. Book Club. Adventures with Emma. Seoul conquest. 22^nd Birthday. “Christmas Morning” with the Houser's family. Acting out the nativity scene. Many “dates” with Evelyn and Caleb. Women’s ministry events. Bubble Tea with Dereck and Christy one last time. Days alone. Bubble Tea with Nicole. Running ½ marathon in Korea. New apartment. Staff Retreat in the mountains. Christmas market. Going to IKEA in Korea. And so so so many more that I know I am forgetting at the moment, but they will come back to me another time! J

WHAT I LOVED MOST ABOUT 2014: the memories. the growings. the moments of soaking in God’s incredible love for me. the joys among stretching moments.

LOOK FORWARD TO 2015

WANT TO LEARN: how to pray through spiritual battles and not let the things of this world consume my mind, but instead soak in God’s truth always.

WANT TO GET BETTER AT: I so desperately want to get better at resting, relaxing and taking care of myself. I spend so much time taking care of others that I forget about me and drain my body until it screams at me with no energy and headaches. Sabbath days are being strived for this year.

BIGGEST GOAL: Working on praying constantly through-out my day. I want to have that deep imitate relational relationship with my Savior throughout  my whole day.  There is nothing in this world that I can do alone and without HIM!

I am pressing into and holding onto the promises that 2015 will be awesome. There are many unknowns in this year, but I so trust my Savior that He knows the desires of my heart and that following Him is the best thing I can do this year! Happy New Year!

Love, Daniella

One of my favorite holidays snuck up on me this year, Thanksgiving and Christmas is quickly approaching my other favorite holiday. It feels like the days are just flying by with craziness so much to do with so little time. I don’t like this feeling I have decided. I am slowly learning what it means to really enjoy the small moments of day and to not crowd my schedule so much. Of course there can always be more that I can do and want to do, but filling my schedule packed full is not helping me be all that I am supposed to be instead it stretches me thinner. It overwhelms. It makes me anxious. It causes me to wake up at 4:30am. It drains me. It makes my body tell me it is done being busy.

 It is so hard for me to say “no” to people because I tell myself it is being selfish, but God has really been working on this area in my heart. He has placed awesome people in my life to be great examples to me of living a life of less busy. They have given me wonderful wisdom on how to live a life full, but a “different” kind of full. Not a full of busy and things to do all the time, but more of creating space and being more intentional. As the year of 2014 is coming to end and we look forward to what 2015 has I want to be more aware and intentional with what I fill my schedule up with. I want to be able to have the peace and assurance that it is not always selfish to say no and that when I do have those thoughts I need to seek God for what the intentions of my heart are. I don’t have to do everything. Creating space is good. Being intentional is better than accomplishing more things. Loving people around me deeply is more important. Doing what God has called me to rather than building up my resume of what I can do is more important. To be less of me and more of pointing to my Savior is what my soul longs for and is important. I pray that I won’t get in the way of God using me. I pray that I would be less of me and more of Him in my everyday life. This journey of life is a messy, but beautiful one. Always learning, always discovery, always seeking…

My life has gotten too busy doing instead of investing and enjoying so I am. I am going to practice saying “no”. I have a feeling that it is going to be hard and there may be many tears on my end, but I am willing to surrender and allow God to work through this process that He is calling me to. He has been whispering to me for many years… “Daniella, Daniella, [Martha, Martha] you are anxious and trouble about many things, but one thing is necessary.” (Luke 10: 38-42). It is time to surrender to saying “no” and saying “yes” only to my Savior.

Christmas is one my favorite times of the year filled with so many wonderful memories. As we go through each day of this Christmas season let’s not let the busy of the season get in the way of what Christmas is truly about. Let’s allow the schedules to be less and worshipping our Savior to be more. Let's remember to come to Jesus who promises to give us rest. He just ask that we would come to Him. Just come. I am coming, Christ. I am coming.  Happy Christmas!

Love, Daniella

Giving Thanks

“I will give thanks to my Lord

with my whole heart,

I will recount

all your wonderful deeds

Psalms 9:1

 

Giving thanks and having a thankful heart is something that my heart strives for each and every day. I have written many blogs post about this topic and God has continually shown different ways to look at this topic of gratitude.

Gratitude- is a word that fills my heart and makes me feel so warm and excited inside. This year I am so thankful for my Savior. I would not be the person I am today without Him. I still have so much to grow in and figure out, but God is overwhelming my soul with Him. I am so thankful for His grace and love each and every day. I am so thankful for His guidance. I am so thankful that He desires me. He does not need me, but He wants me. He loves me. He likes me and He calls me His own.

Ephesians 2:4-6 says “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespass, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

These verses speak so boldly to my heart; capturing it and reminding me how much I need my Savior and how much He truly loves me. I am so thankful for my Savior. I can’t say it enough. I am so thankful. He carries me through all circumstances and there is nothing that I can do well without Him (John 15:5). Thank you, Jesus- there are not enough words to express how grateful I am for you and what you have done for me on the cross. You paid my debt with your amazing love. THANK YOU!

My life is full of big and little things that I am SO thankful for. Sometimes I unfortunately take advantage of all that I have, but I am ever so gently humbled by my Savior in those moments.

Thankful for… my family, the Houser’s, friends, my roommates, journaling & blogging, teaching, my students, reading, book club, prayer, shereadstruth.com, thankful list, bible reading, the season of fall, church community, earl grey tea & bubble tea, changing of my heart, homemade granola, sweet notes of encouragement, mail, being creative in the kitchen, connections, running, facetime, small group, and so many things….

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to remember all that you are thankful for, but I challenge us to take this heart of gratitude each and every day. To live out truly in every circumstances…

Living a life of gratitude is what my soul loves.
 

Love, Daniella